


Field Trip

by Mello_Drama_Reborn



Category: Future Card Buddyfight
Genre: Gen, scripted buddyfight
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-13
Updated: 2020-01-13
Packaged: 2021-02-27 08:48:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,230
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22234333
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mello_Drama_Reborn/pseuds/Mello_Drama_Reborn
Summary: Gao's class is going on a field trip! While there, he has fun with his friends, runs into some familiar faces, and gets to watch Baku buddyfight!?A lighthearted adventure about how fun buddyfighting is (feat. the former Darkness Masterminds).
Relationships: Gremlin | Oomori Retsu & Oomori Baku
Kudos: 1





	Field Trip

**Author's Note:**

> This fic partially exists to show off [Baku's deck from the buddyfight 3DS game](https://retsu-omori.tumblr.com/post/149418280707/deck-analysis-bakus-explosive-wolves-of). It is a fun deck and I am proud of him.  
> This is also, as usual, a [repost](https://master-deckbuilder-retsu.tumblr.com/post/164139280735/uncovered-this-bdf-fic-i-wrote-maybe-a-year-ago) of something I wrote several years ago, because I haven't watched any buddyfight in a long time. But this fic still fills me with childish joy, so it deserves to be on an actual fic site.

Gao’s face was plastered to the window of the school bus as it began to turn into their destination, his eyes shining as bright as the sun he took his name from.

“You’ve been so busy catching up on schoolwork since the buddypolice and all the tournaments, I’m glad you were able to come on the school trip!” Kuguru’s voice was bright with excitement, just audible above Tetsuya’s equally excited cheers from the back of the bus.

“I’m just surprised he wasn’t late like he was to our last field trip.” Baku spoke through a mouthful of food, shoving the last of his bus ride snack into his mouth as the bus began to slow. “Though given that, it’s a bit of an ironic trip.” Baku leaned in to glance through the window Gao was hogging, just barely catching a glimpse of the sign in front of the buddypolice headquarters.

Once a year, buddypolice HQ gave tours to local schools. Normally only Aibou’s 9th graders went on the tour, but with three former buddypolice youth in Aibou’s elementary division, Aibou’s faculty thought they likely were invested enough to benefit from the tour and let them come as well.  
Aware it was a rare treat, the children in the bus could barely stay in their seats, with the final lecture about “their best behavior” and “representing the school” by Nitsuke-sensei feeling like it took a century.

As the bus doors finally opened and Gao jumped from his seat, Nitsuke caught him by the arm, giving him a grim smile.  
“And Gao, I look forward to talking to Commander I personally about your schoolwork!”

Gao already felt exhausted as he exited the bus, Baku and Kuguru following behind to pat him consolingly.

“Cheer up, Gao. Since you’re not a buddypolice youth anymore, it’s not like Commander I can really do anything, right?”

“Yeah, worst he can do is embarrass you during the tour, or send Tasuku to scold you.”

Kuguru jolted as Gao deflated further, grabbing Baku by the ear.

“Stop, you’re just making it worse-”

They stopped as a familiar voice emerged from a second Aibou bus, Genma’s excited shouts seeming to shake the ground as the student council president’s indignant shrieks could just barely be heard over them, begging for silence.

“Both of those loud guys in the same class, being a 9th grader must be diffficult." Noboru had appeared behind them, watching as Aibou’s 9th graders filed out of the bus, followed by Neginoyama. "I feel kinda bad for Neginoyama.”

“Yeah, he does the 9th grade tour every year, but somehow I think this is going to be his most difficult one yet.”

Noboru and Baku nodded as Nitsuke called the class into line, and everyone quickly hurried into single file, eager to leave the parking lot and start their tour.

Gao was glad that Stella gave their tour instead of Commander I, relief soon giving way to a mixture of nostalgia and interest as she shared a few stories about the history of the buddyfight office even he hadn’t known about. Stella seemed happy while giving the tour, pleasantly surprised by the number of questions the class had; though to be expected, most of them were about Captain Answer. The 9th grade class seemed to be the same: though their tour was separate from theirs, they could sometimes hear Genma’s voice booming through the halls, occasionally echoing the same question one of them had just asked and eliciting giggles from some of the students.

“And here is where our officers practice buddyfighting!” Stella gestured towards a room of fight tables, each equipped with a number of complicated-looking gadgets. “Our officers need to always be in top shape to make sure no criminal gets away, so they train here against other officers to tune their decks, or run simulations against criminal deck data.” The whole classes’ eyes sparkled as they looked at the tables, and Stella gave them a knowing smile. “Now, I know what you’re all thinking- and the answer is yes! After lunch and a short film, you’ll all have a chance to try fighting at our advanced fight tables and see what it’s like to train like a real buddypolice officer!” Immediately a sea of hands rose up, and Stella gestured them down with an apologetic smile. “All your questions will be answered before you go in, so wait on those for now, the tour is almost over now!”

For lunch, everyone was let loose in the general Cho-Tokyo area. The buddyfight office was in the heart of the city, meaning there were plenty of places to eat out, and exiting the building, Gao could already see groups of kids grouping together to eat, and the park across the street was full of groups who had brought boxed lunches.

Baku had, of course, already eaten his boxed lunch, which meant their group were going out for lunch. Between Gao, Baku, Kuguru, Tetsuya, and Zanya, they had a pretty big group, but it was still obvious that this trip wasn’t meant for their grade, with middle schoolers from multiple schools crowding all the restaurants. The lines were bad enough that they had to try multiple places if they wanted to have time to eat before they had to get back, and they were poking into their third place when Baku froze.

“What? Does this have something you really want, or-?”

“No. Look over there, in that booth by the window.”

Once he pointed it out, Gao didn’t even have to squint to find what he was looking for: Davide and Gremlin, from the Disaster’s Team Darkness Masterminds, sitting together eating fries.

“Get me whatever. I’m talking to them.”

“Wait- Baku!”

Gao followed Baku through the crowded restaurant, squeezing between over-full booths of students as he struggled to keep up. Both Disaster member’s eyes were on Baku already when Gao stumbled over, just catching Baku’s greeting.

“Hey, cus.”

“… Baku.”

The tension between them didn’t mesh with the lively atmosphere around them, and Gao couldn’t help but be distracted as he spotted Davide moving to swipe more of Gremlin’s fries. Gremlin seemed to notice Gao, following his eyes before quickly turning and swatting Davide’s hand away, giving a sigh.

“Looks like you came in a pretty large group. Would you mind if I joined you, so I could sit somewhere with no room for jackals?”

“What? You wanna sit at the kiddy table?” Davide tried to make another grab for the fries as he mocked him, but Retsu shielded the basket with his hand as he shifted it away from him. “Even if there’s not room for me, I can still hover over your table and steal scraps.”

“Why don’t you just get your own food!?” Gao couldn’t help but raise his voice, remembering all the dirty tricks Davide had used on him and his friends, but Davide only smirked at his outburst.

“Why bother, when there’s about to be a whole table of elementary brats I could take it from?” He licked his lips, and the redhead beside him gave another sigh.

“Baku, I’m not really with him, he just hangs off me because no one else will tolerate him.”

“Hah! That’d imply that you tolerate me.”

“My mistake.”

The others came over with their food, Kuguru’s face giving away her surprise at the unexpectedly light atmosphere of the conversation. Gao only turned to her and shrugged, while Baku looked deep in thought.

“Look, are we going to sit down, or what? I’m carrying both of your guys’ food, and it’s heavy!” Noboru’s voice cut through the renewed tension, and, making the decision for them, he set his tray down in a booth across from them.  
After a moment, the others filed in, Gremlin standing up to follow them when a shout stopped him, his head turning to spot Shido standing at the front of the aisle, holding his own tray.

“W-Wh-What are you doing here!?”

Davide poked his head out of the booth, grinning.

“Nevermind kiddos, I found my sucker.”

“Oh. …Nice to see you again, Shido.”

In the end, Gao’s group took all of one booth, while the Darkness Masterminds sat in the booth across, with Gremlin now moved opposite of Davide and Shido so he could talk to Baku across the aisle.

“Good thing Tasuku decided to skip the trip, or this’d be kinda awkward, huh?” Kuguru’s voice was low, their table thick with suspicion.

“There was no point in him taking the tour- he works there. Anyway, it’s already awkward, isn’t it?” Noboru was one of the few speaking at full volume, stubbornly focused on ignoring the booth beside them as he scarfed down his food.

“Why are you guys even here? I thought only 9th graders did the tour!” Shido’s question came out like a complaint as he once again shoved Davide’s hands away from his meal.

“Maybe in your school. Ours does it at 8th- older kids don’t get a trip so they have more time to study for entrance exams.” Davide sounded anything but pleased with the arrangement, making a face as he stole another handful of Shido’s food.

“You go to… Fumiya Daini?” Baku was actually eating slowly enough to ask the question properly, another unnerving thing about the table situation.

“Correct.” Gremlin had finished (or had finished for him) his food, and was turned into the aisle to face Baku.

“That’s the same school Kiri used to go to…” Gao’s hostility had waned since first spotting them, though he kept a leery eye on Davide, who was starting to make him feel bad for Shido beside him. Davide glanced up at Kiri’s name, sneering in the Aibo table’s direction.

“Yeah, too bad Mr. High and Mighty ain’t here with ya, I’d love to have a few words with him again.”

Gao was about to shout something back, but Baku spoke up first, ignoring Davide to continue talking to Gremlin.

“Actually, um, I was wondering if you’d fight me. You know, when all the schools get together in that room with the fight tables.”

The request was unexpected, eyes from both tables turning towards Baku.

“Hm. I hadn’t been planing on fighting, but I am interested in seeing your most recent creations.”

“Well, that’s the thing- there’s only so many tables, so the former buddypolice youth have bowed out of using them. That’s why I thought,” Baku frowned, clenching his fist in his lap, “I thought it’d be like old times. Do you remember, when we’d have tuning fights sometimes?”

Both tables went silent as Gremlin nodded.

“Of course I do.” He paused a moment, and Baku’s anticipation was palpable. “Fine. I’ll accept your challenge.”

Baku’s face absolutely lit up, and Gao couldn’t help but feel happy for him, despite the suspicions he had about everyone at the table across from them. He just barely caught Gremlin turning to hide a smile, picking up his tray as he stood up.

“Don’t expect a simple tuning match, though. I only have one deck on me, and it’s an updated version of the one that I used at the Gaen Cup.” He turned to glare down at their table, his face returned to cold indifference. “Be ready.”

With that he turned away, Shido stumbling after him with a shout of “Wait for me! I don’t want to be left alone with Davide!”

Gao watched them go somewhat uncertainly, turning back to the rest of the table.

“I kind of feel bad for President Shido.”

“Don’t. He deserves it.” Noboru stood up, holding his now empty tray.

“Yeah, that’s the spirit!” Davide had moved over to their table while they weren’t looking, reaching over to grab some of Baku’s food. Baku easily shoved his hand away, quickly stuffing his remaining food in his mouth as Davide watched him, looking at him with disgust before walking away defeated.

“Well, I guess no one gets in the way of Baku and his food!”

“I don’t think he’s even that good of a thief.”

When they came back, students were already starting to file into the auditorium for the short film, though Gao recognized it as the stage where the buddypolice often did press releases after major incidents. He couldn’t help but notice that Darkness Masterminds was together again, with Retsu and Shido sitting next to each other and Davide behind them, his feet propped up against the top of Shido’s chair. Like everyone else, they were talking about fighting at the special tables after the film, the whole room buzzing with impatience.

“I wonder if we’ll get a chance to fight Captain Answer!?”

“What makes you think you could?”

“He’s here! He showed up during our tour! And it was the real Captain Answer this time, not some faker in a suit!”

“Ya mean from when you fell off the building? Hah! I wish I’d gotten to see that instead of Sofia.”

“Shut up, Davide, it’s wasn’t funny! I was very badly scarred!”

“Was the guy leading your tour one of the guys that caught you and your pops?”

“… I don’t want to talk about this anymore, when’s the movie?"

The movie was about what everyone expected: it was a PR video (narrated by Stella) talking about what the buddypolice did and why it was important and how the officers kept everyone safe. It used a lot of clips of Tasuku, which elicited a number of reactions from the Aibo students (mostly the girls), and part-way through Gao started wondering if Tasuku had seen the video, and if it was another reason he had skipped out on the field trip.

After the video, two school’s worth of junior high students plus Gao’s grade excitedly funneled towards the fight tables, before which was another role call as each class’s teacher took the opportunity to give some last minute lectures.

"Now class! We’ve been granted a special opportunity today, and we don’t want to make Aibo or the buddypolice regret it! Be extremely careful with the equipment inside, and show that you can be trusted to use it just like the middle schoolers here today!” The excitement of Gao’s classmates was almost humming around him, and Gao once again wished that Zanya hadn’t volunteered the former buddypolice youth to sit out on fighting. “With that said, this is also a rare opportunity to try buddyfighting with older fighters, and kids from other schools, so don’t let the age gap intimidate you and make the most of it!”

The doors were opened, and kids crowded into the large room, running to grab tables while others watched or waited to go next.

Gremlin found them almost immediately, this time alone.

“You won’t have to worry about Davide- he’s been given detention, so he’s sitting out.” Sure enough, Davide was sitting against a wall, a group of teachers standing watch next to him. “Our teacher’s been looking for reasons to detain him the whole trip- he flipped her off during role call, and she finally found her reason.”

The Aibo group just shrugged at each other, Kuguru offering “Perhaps it’s better he doesn’t learn about the mechanisms that will eventually arrest him.”  
Gremlin gave Kuguru a look of acknowledgement, and Gao thought he might’ve almost smiled at her, opting to nod instead before turning to Baku.

As they set down their cards, Shido once again wandered over, cautiously positioning himself near the center of the table. Gao must’ve looked skeptical when he looked over, because Shido provided the excuse “All the tables are full, so I decided to support my old teammate, that’s all! That, and the cup was actually the only time I saw him play…”

Gremlin didn’t react to Shido’s arrival, and he and Baku both flipped over their flags. Gao found himself relating to Shido’s interest, suddenly realizing he couldn’t remember the last time Baku challenged someone as he spotted an unfamiliar card in the buddy zone.

“Whoa- Baku, are you playing Dragon Knights?!”

“Not just Dragon Knights- this deck is made of all Shinsengumi cards!” Gao looked over as Kuguru provided explanation, glancing between her and Baku. “I remember this deck, Baku! You were trying to think of ways to improve Gao’s deck, but made a totally original Dragon World deck by mistake!”

“Yeah. You and Kiri encouraged me to try using it for myself, so I figured now was a good opportunity to actually play it.”

“You know, looking at your buddy Dragon Knight, Soushi’s ability, I think you’re right! When you can automatically destroy a monster once per turn, Death Tallica becomes a lot less scary!”

“Are you sure you want to describe your entire strategy before the fight?” Gremlin crossed his arms across the table, waiting for them to finish introducing the deck.

“Whoa- sorry, cus! But you know, since we got to see your deck at the cup, it only seems fair to tell you a little about it, right?”

“Hmph. Well, your buddy’s ability won’t be of much use if you have to use it 9 times to mean anything.”

Baku went first, calling Dragon Knight, Kondou to his left and Dragon Knight, Nagakura to his center, Gremlin blocking his opening attack with Black Dragon Shield.  
Gremlin retaliated by calling Black Dragon, Deathgaze Dragon to his left, Death Ruler, Gallows to his right, and Black Dragon, Needlefang to his center. First Gallows attacked Baku directly, bringing Gremlin to 12 life, then Needlefang took out Kondou while Deathgaze easily destroyed the powered up Nagakura in the center, dealing 2 damage with spectral strike.  
Baku smiled, doing his charge and draw before buddycalling Dragon Knight, Soushi to his left and paying one life to equip Steel Fist, Dragoknuckle.

“If you’re going to use spectral strike and shadow dive, all I need to do is use items instead of monsters, right?”

He rested Soushi, destroying Gremlin’s highly defensive center monster, before charging in with his Dragoknuckle.

“True, but that strategy means less attacks, which makes it easier to block." Gremlin cast Black Armor, reducing the damage to 0 and preventing Baku from gaining gauge. "With your 6 life to my 12, I wonder if your challenging me was misguided, Baku.”

Gremlin was smirking with the end of Baku’s turn, quickly performing his charge and draw. He called Hell Rapier to his center, sending him after Baku’s open center and reducing him to 4 life. Baku held his ground, blocking Deathgaze’s attack on Soushi with a Green Dragon Shield and Gallow’s attempt on his center with a Blue Dragon Shield, Gremlin giving him an approving look for his tough defense.

“You put up quite the fight, but resistance is futile. Unless you can close the gap in life between us, you’re only delaying the inevitable.”

“Well, we’ll see what I can do for you, Coach! Since I’m at 5 life, I can cast Dragogenius!”  
Baku drew his two cards, thanking his lucky stars that both his shields last turn hadn’t been Green Dragon Shields. He grinned at his draws, his eyes fixing on Gremlin, full of challenge.  
“All right, let’s get that life of yours taken down a few pegs!”

He rested Soushi to destroy Gremlin’s center again, and then cast The Skies in your Hand, sending Soushi back to his hand and calling two Kondou’s to his left and right, their combined effects putting them both at 4 critical.

“Hey, Coach?” Baku was grinning even wider, and Gremlin returned the fire in his eyes, his own smile now grim. “You’ve already used two shields in just as many turns. What are the chances you have another saved?”

“… Matters.”

Baku turned his weapon to attack, pointing to Gremlin’s open center.

“You regret telling me to close the gap?”

“A bit, yes."

Gremlin couldn’t help but flinch as he took 10 damage from Baku’s reckless blitz, the tables suddenly turned with the end of Baku’s turn.

Gremlin still had Deathgaze and Gallows on his left and right, but after Baku’s sudden rush, he found himself retreating into the defensive strategies his deck was built for. He cast Devil Stigma on Gallows, putting it and the monster into the drop zone in exchange for gauge and life. Then he cast Accel End, his dropzone suddenly ballooning, priming the stage for his buddy call.

"I pay 4 gauge to buddy call the Black Dragon of Demise, Death Tallica, and put 18 deep attribute cards in its soul!” Gremlin smirked, confidence returning. “It was a nice play, Baku, but your blitz strategy doesn’t work if you can’t open my center, and currently, nothing on you field can do it.”  
Gao looked over Baku’s field and realized Gremlin was right- while Death Tallica had an unimpressive 3000 defense, both Dragoknuckle and both Kondous had only 2000 attack.  
“Even if you exchange your monsters like before, you’ll have to destroy my Death Tallica 7 times before you can scratch me again.”

“Heh,” the tables had turned once again, with Baku now the one looking grimly at the single card in his hand. “Well, last time it was a 7 life gap, now it’s 7 Tallicas. I’ll figure something out.”

“Again with the useless struggling.” Gremlin unleashed his buddy’s double attack, knocking Baku down to 1 life. “Very well. Show me what you’re capable of.”

Baku did his draw, frowned, and charged and drew, this time smiling at his result.

“Hey, Coach?”

“Oh no.” Gremlin’s tone was teasing, still smiling as he warily watched Baku’s hand.

“I drew Dragogenius.” Baku grinned, and Gremlin sighed, putting his face in his hand. “You ready, Coach? I’m betting it all on this draw!”  
Baku paid his last two gauge and drew, Gremlin’s shoulders falling as Baku’s face lit up.  
“Well, I lose.”

“… What?” Gremlin looked up, but Baku’s expression still didn’t match his words.

“I lose. I can’t get to my next turn with this hand, and I can’t break through your center either.” Gremlin waited, and Baku’s grin grew back. “But, I’m still going to show you what I’m capable of!”

Baku called Dragon Knight, Iwamoto to his center, retiring one of the Kondous to adjust for the size limit, and then called the Soushi he’d returned to his hand a few turns before, replacing the other Kondou. He rested them both, each removing 3 of Death Tallica’s soul cards.

“All right, now I cast Force Reurn!”

Baku gained 1 life and returned both monsters to his hand, immediately recalling them on the sides and resting them both again to remove another 6 of Death Tallica’s soul cards.

“Alright, now imagine I had one more gauge so I could activate Dragoknuckle’s ‘Volcanic Burst’!”

He grinned, and Gremlin shook his head, smiling fondly.

“Then you’d’ve reduced Death Tallica to 3 cards in its soul. Certainly impressive, but still two destructions and 4 life short of defeating me.”

“Alright, but then imagine I placed Iwamoto in the center and had one more life. I’d’ve survived your turn!”

“But you didn’t.” Gremlin started putting his cards away, Gao and the others gawking as they didn’t even bother to play the final turn. “And anyway, that’s assuming I don’t draw a size 0.”

“Okay, but what I’m saying is, it was close!”

“Maybe with a little imagination it was.” Gremlin walked around the table and pressed a fist into Baku’s hair, Baku laughing at the playful gesture. “It was an interesting match, Baku.”

While Gao and Kuguru laughed along with them, enjoying the moment between them, Shido and Noboru simultaneously lunged for either side of the unoccupied fight table, both grimacing as they saw each other at the other end.  
The previous match had already drawn a slight crowd, and it only increased with this next as the table became rowdy - Tetsuya and Gao’s energy feeding off each other as they cheered and hollered for Noboru, drowning out Gremlin’s somewhat impatient backseat buddyfighting from over Shido’s shoulder, the game occasionally pausing for the two to get into arguments as Noboru took the chance to scold his cheering squad for distracting him.

Despite the unlikely combination of groups, the rest of the field trip went by peacefully, with new friends being made both within and across schools. Everyone was all smiles when they reluctantly climbed back into their buses (except maybe Shido, who was plugging his ears next to Genma, and Davide, who was put out from his earlier time out).  
Baku and Gremlin looked especially satisfied, waving to each other across the parking lot with a mutual warmth Gao would’ve never thought Disaster’s deckbuilder capable of from his attitude at the cup.

“Baku, that deck you used before was seriously cool! Would you mind fighting me after we get back?”

Baku laughed as Gao turned around in his seat to talk to him, still tense with the excitement of all the fights.

“Not quite yet, bro- I think this deck’s gonna need a little adjusting after that last battle.” Baku grinned, and Gao returned his expression, extending a fist for Baku to pound against his own.

“Alright, but when you’re ready, we totally should! That was a totally awesome fight!” Baku thanked him, and Gao sat back down in his seat, looking through the window as the Buddypolice headquarters faded into the distance. He let out a laugh, pumping his fist.  
“Right! Buddyfight is a seriously awesome game!”

**Author's Note:**

> When is Bushiroad going to pay me for the quality episodes I keep writing them? Tallicas are expensive, you know.


End file.
